


Made Me Realize (He's a Phantom)

by Blaiddsumu



Category: Danny Phantom, Gravity Falls
Genre: Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, Not Phantom Planet Compliant, Post-Canon, Post-Weirdmageddon, Set two years after Gravity Falls and a few years after Danny Phantom, i'm not sorry but we all know PP was awful and a dead fish in a basket could've written it better
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-05-10 07:10:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14732285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blaiddsumu/pseuds/Blaiddsumu
Summary: The stress from literal years of Superhero-ing and Ghost fighting had been wearing Danny down, and his friends and family finally decided to actually do something about it, convincing him to take a summer to do whatever, wandering across the United States on a solo road trip. But only a couple weeks in does he show up at a small lumber town in Oregon, which has a lot more to it than meets the eye.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy folks! welcome to my humble crossover fic, where I cross over two shows I love very dearly. I'm sure nobody who knows me is surprised about this. 
> 
> Some things to keep in mind: In this fic, Dipper and Mabel are fourteen, going on fifteen. This is their second summer back in Gravity Falls after Weirdmageddon. Danny is nineteen years old, it's been almost four years since the events of the show, and Phantom Planet is Not A Thing. But! His parents, Valerie, and Mr. Lancer all know he's a halfa (his parents managed to convince him to tell Mr. Lancer, who had already kinda figured it out at that point tbh)
> 
>  **For those of you who haven't seen Gravity Falls:** Gravity Falls is a town full of all sorts of weird stuff, ranging from gnomes to multibears. Twins Dipper and Mabel Pines live in California, but went to their Great-Uncle Stan's house in Gravity Falls to stay the summer, expecting it to be a boring summer with a relative they barely know, but find mystery after mystery. There's a lot of weird books and triangles that love ciphers involved. The show ends (quite well, may I add) at the end of that first summer. Anything else in my fic set after that is pure headcanon.
> 
>  **For those of you who haven't seen Danny Phantom:** Danny Fenton is the son of two Ghost Hunters/Inventors. When he was fourteen, his parents built a portal into the "Ghost Zone", another dimension where ghosts reside. Danny had the unfortunate luck of turning it on... from the inside. It somehow gave him ghost powers, making him half-ghost (often called a "halfa" 'cause he's half-a human and half-a ghost heheh). After that, he ends up becoming the local superhero Danny Phantom, stopping malevolent ghosts from doing Bad Stuff. He has to keep his human identity from everyone since a few misconceptions and accidents when he first started doing his thing made him seem like an evil ghost villain, and his parents are ghost hunters.
> 
> One last thing! I have lots of ideas for this fic, but I can't get past writing the second chapter! I'm stuck on it and I don't know how to continue... I'm probably gonna scrap what i've got of the second chapter entirely and start over, so if you guys have an idea on what to do next please feel free to tell me, I would really appreciate the help! also I wrote this like a month ago...  
> not sure if that's all of what I wanted to say but I can't remember now, so go, be free! do whatever ya do when you read stuff! 
> 
> Ovg'h yvtrm drgs gsrh glgzoob fmrjfv rwvz lu z xilhhlevi yvgdvvm WK zmw TU! Yfg R droo hzb, R szevm'g hvvm z hrmtov urx gszg szh dszg R'ev tlg rm nrmw, hl gsviv'h gszg. svsvsv

Danny stared out the windows of the bus into the thick pine trees lining the road and covering the surrounding hills. They passed by in a blur, while the farther ones slowly made their way across his line of sight in a surprisingly mesmerizing way. The sight prompted the young adult to start thinking about the parallax between him and the trees, before the bus turned a corner and revealed its destination. It was rather breathtaking, and a welcome break in the admittedly monotonous trees. A large basin held the small town, with a waterfall on one of the cliffs leading into a lake. Danny could see the small town, huddled together as a cluster of buildings. It was smaller than he expected, but as the bus got closer and closer, the strange feeling he’d had that brought him here in the first place got stronger until finally settling. He couldn’t place it, but now that he had arrived it  _ changed,  _ fitting into a place in himself he didn’t realize was there before.

 

The bus slowly came to a stop, brakes squealing the entire way, in front of a small bench but not quite in the town itself. Danny grabbed his luggage and paid the driver, making sure to tip the man. (a ghost had noticed Danny’s presence and decided to chat with him for a bit, making the driver look at Danny with a startled, but admittedly determined, expression.) He made sure to ask for directions to the nearest motel this time, but the driver just shrugged and pulled away. He sighed, but was unsurprised, before turning around and following the short road into town. There were more of the pine trees, but now that Danny was viewing them at a much slower speed, and closer distance, he could better admire the towering trees. He had gotten used the the fresher air outside of the city, but somehow here it was even fresher. Or that bus smelled  _ really _ bad, could be either one of the two. 

 

He hadn’t really been focusing on where he was going as he paid too much attention to the forest around him, so when Danny accidentally ran into someone he yelped and jumped back in surprise. He glanced around him and belatedly realized he had arrived at the edge of the town, before looking down to the person he had run into and knocked over. He politely held out a hand to help the person up.

 

“Oh, my goodness. I’m so sorry about that, I wasn’t looking where I was going, are you okay?” he asked, somewhat hurriedly. The person groaned, but waved it off with one hand as the other held the back of her head.

 

“No, no it’s okay, I’m okay!” she said as she looked up at Danny with a smile. She accepted his hand and began to dust herself off. She was shorter than Danny, which wasn’t much of a surprise, with long, curly brown hair and a rather colorful sweater. She looked like she was a few years younger than Danny, probably early teens.

 

“The name’s Mabel, what’s yours? Are you a tourist? I’ve never seen you before!” She hadn’t let go of Danny’s hand, and had in fact begun shaking it vigorously. 

 

“It’s, uh, Danny. Nice to meet you, Mabel. And I guess I am a tourist, so that’s a good thing if you’ve never seen me before.” For some reason, Mabel looked… disappointed? But the odd expression quickly disappeared behind another, more excited and energetic one.

 

“Cool! That means I can show you the best tourist traps around!” She finally let go of Danny’s hand as she said that, gesturing excitedly into the air. Danny grimaced as his stomach gurgled, and he looked at his watch, taking note of how late it was.

 

“That’s… nice, but I’d rather get checked into a motel and eaten some food before any of that. Do you happen to know where one is?” He asked, trying not to interrupt the girl’s excited movements. She stopped, fixing Danny with an unsettlingly intense look before grinning widely.

 

“Sure do! It’s right this way, sir Danny!” 

 

What?

 

He followed the excitable girl across the street, taking care to step over the litter-- wait, was that a  _ sword? _ What kind of town has  _ sword litter? _ He shook his head and continued to a small, one-story building that was, fortunately, nearby. A neon sign declared it the “Gravity Falls Motel: This is the only place you can stay in this town so don’t complain about our prices!”. Mabel was bouncing in front of the doors, spreading her arms dramatically.

 

“Welcome to the Gravity Falls Motel! The only motel we’ve got in town! Do you like it? The slogan is courtesy of my Grunkle Stan, after he got a wicked nice streak when I definitely didn’t give him extra-special Mabel Juice!” 

 

Danny raised an eyebrow. He didn’t understand half of what she just said, the context escaping him. He opted to not ask about it, figuring he was probably better off just not knowing. Instead, he smiled and walked forward.

 

“Well, thanks for showing me, Mabel. Goodnight!” he said, giving the girl a small farewell wave.

 

“No problemo, Danny! See ya tomorrow!” she shouted, as she skipped away in a cloud of glitter. This town was  _ weird, _ Danny decided. Maybe not bad weird, but definitely weird. He shook his head and turned to face the receptionist, intending to ask for a room. 

 

He froze.

 

The receptionist was a Lizard-person. They wore a vaguely formal top with a matching ribbon on their head, and was smiling as pleasantly someone with a lizard face could. Somewhere in the back of Danny’s mind he thought they looked a little bit like a Bearded Dragon. Somewhere else, closer to the front of Danny’s mind, he realized this town was going to be a  _ lot _ weirder than he had already seen and expected. He could have rationalized that this receptionist was wearing a really convincing mask, but something about them poked at the same part of himself that settled once he arrived in this town, somehow confirming that yes, this was indeed a Lizard Person.

 

The receptionist was still smiling at him, but their expression began to tighten uncomfortably as Danny stared. 

 

“Never seen a Lizard Person before, huh?” they asked. Their voice was high pitched, dry, and hissing, yet still somehow pleasant on the ears. 

 

_ Come on, Danny, get a move on, _ he told himself.  _ Don’t freak out over the Lizard person, you’re half  _ ghost _ for goodness’ sake it’s not like this is impossible, or out of the ordinary. _

 

Then again, Danny had only ever seen ghosts. 

 

Somehow, after a long and uncomfortable pause, he managed to relax enough to move forward to the desk and reply to the receptionist’s question.

 

“Yeah…” he was surprised by how steady his voice was, “Where I’m from, all we’ve got are ghosts.”  _ Wait, no don’t say  _ that… But the Lizard person just smiled in understanding, much unlike all the other people he accidentally mentioned ghosts to. There was usually a lot more incredulous looks, or even laughter.

 

“Well, then I suppose you’ve never seen Gnomes, or Manotaurs, or any other magical creatures before, have you?” Danny just nodded, eyes wide. “Then you better be expecting them here in Gravity Falls, er…” 

 

“Danny. My name’s Danny Fenton.” 

 

The receptionist nodded, grabbing a pen and pulling something hidden behind the desk closer towards them.

 

“I take it you’ll be wanting to stay a night or two?” They asked, pen at the ready. 

 

“I, uh, yeah. Yeah, I’ll be staying for…” he trailed off. He didn’t actually know how long he wanted to stay in this strange town, since he was on a bit of a road trip. Then again, it wasn’t like he had any real destination in mind for the road trip, other than getting back home by the end of the summer, and Gravity Falls seemed really interesting.

 

“I’ll be staying for a week, maybe even longer.” he decided, nodding resolutely. The receptionist gave a small ‘hmm’, as if expecting that response. Danny wasn’t sure what to make of it.

 

Danny did all the necessary paperwork of renting a room at the motel, cringing a little at the price but doing nothing since, as the sign said, it  _ was _ the only motel in town and he couldn’t really go anywhere else. As he gathered up his luggage and was about to head for his assigned room, key in hand, he paused and tilted his head in thought before turning back to the receptionist again.

 

“Do you… say all that stuff to  _ all _ the tourists? I mean, I’ve seen people’s reactions when I talk about ghosts, I don’t even  _ want _ to imagine how they’d react to a Lizard Person as a receptionist at the motel, never mind all the other stuff you mentioned…” He really didn’t want to imagine that. For whatever reason, normal people had a really hard time believing in stuff they haven’t seen with their own two eyes, and even  _ then _ people were still disbelieving, or they get scared of the unknown and violent. They’d probably come in and either scream and run away or laugh and think it was a silly mask, best case scenario. 

 

The receptionist laughed, which came out as a chirping noise more than a human laugh. 

 

“Oh, no we don’t, silly! Normal humans just aren’t ready for this sort of stuff, so we have methods of disguising the weirdness of the town for them.” They scribbled something with their pen and set it down with a soft  _ click. _

“Ah. Then… why didn’t you use those methods for me? For all you know, I’m just some ‘normal human’.” Danny asked, confused. He turned fully to face the Lizard person. They blinked, slowly, before giving Danny a surprised look.

 

“Well, you’re not a normal human, you’re ‘weird’, you’re something  _ else _ just like anyone living here in the town.” they said, tone implying they didn’t believe Danny didn’t know this already. He did know he was weird, of course, but he was more concerned with how the receptionist knew this.

 

“Yeah, but how did you  _ know? _ It’s not like I look different or anything… do I?” 

 

The Lizard person closed their eyes and shook their head, confusion evaporating into understanding. 

 

“No, no, you look human. But here in Gravity Falls, the more ‘weird’ you are, the more you can tell if someone else is ‘weird’. I just  _ knew _ you weren’t a normal human, just like how you could probably tell I wasn’t wearing a mask, right?”

 

Danny sighed in relief. So the receptionist couldn’t tell what made him… ‘weird’, just that he was. He had panicked for a moment there, suspicious that the receptionist somehow knew he was a halfa. While Danny Phantom was generally seen as a good guy now, he really didn’t want his human half identity revealed. He’d never be able to rest again, whether it be ghosts or a mob of fans or even the Guys In White doing… whatever they do. He  _ liked _ the relative anonymity of his human half. 

 

“Yes, I could, actually. That explains it… sorta. Thanks for telling me about all this.” Danny smiled gratefully. While he was interested in why this town was like this, he figured the receptionist was just a receptionist and was probably tired of answering all his questions. 

 

With one last wave, he headed towards his room and got situated. His stomach grumbled, but it was too late in the evening to go anywhere and he really didn't want to spend more money than he had to, so he grabbed a granola bar out of his backpack and begun to munch on that. And after that information dump, he didn’t really want to go out anywhere, he needed a bit to process that all. A side thought popped up, and he hoped the other stuff in this town would be less expensive than this motel, but knowing his luck that wasn't going to be the case. He’d probably have to get a small part-time job here if we wanted to have enough money to survive the rest of the summer wherever he went. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously: Danny rolls into Gravity Falls, greets the lizardperson receptionist at the motel, and learns Gravity Falls is pretty Weird.
> 
> Snippet of the second chapter, as well as a Question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha,,, hah,, yeah, It's been... a while. Sorry about that. I've been struggling on which direction I should take this fic, and I have several plotlines that could happen but I dONt KNow so, yeah, there's that. BUT! I'm going to ask y'all a Question (or two). There is a link to a survey in the main body, if y'all would be so kind as to take it to help me. And it'll help me get my darn butt in gear haha

 

 

**I am so sorry for this, I know getting these sorts of things are really annoying, I have no excuse for not updating this other than I have many ideas on where this fic could go and I can't choose from any, SO! I'm gonna ask you to answer a survey! I'm just asking who you want the Big Bad Villain to be, as well as plot points that may or may not happen. These plot points are not going to be ALL the plot points I have planned, so keep that in mind ;)**

**So, without further ado, here's the survey:<https://goo.gl/forms/ETkPrBvfnIcwy8VL2>**

**If you don't want to take it, just comment with what plot points you think should happen and what villain(s) you think should appear. Or don't comment with any ideas if you don't have any, I'm definitely not forcing any of my readers to give me ideas Or Else**

**Thank you all so much!**

**And with that, I give you a snippet of the second chapter as a "Thanks for sticking with me", since I know how frustrating it can be to think the fic updated but it did Not.**

 

* * *

Dipper groaned as Mabel woke him in the morning. For whatever reason, she decided her usual method was not enough, and began to jump on his bed while singing her “glitter-ified” version of “Good Morning Merry Sunshine”.  _ How _ she glitter-ified a song was anybody’s guess.

“Nnngh, Mabel, why on earth are you doing this,” he asked tiredly, rolling over and covering his face with the blankets. She grinned and stopped her singing to jump down and look him in the face.

“I’m gonna give a  _ new person in town _ a tour today! I met him last night as I was going to the late-night craft store, apparently he just came into town and is gonna stay for a while!” she said excitedly. It took a moment for her words to process in his brain, but once they did he frowned.

“You’re… giving a tour of the town to a Tourist?  _ Why? _ ” 

“Oh, but he’s not just  _ any _ tourist, Dipper!” she said, shaking her head, “He’s… different, like us!  _ Gravity Falls _ different, Dipper, I could  _ feel _ it.”

His eyes widened, and he quickly sat up, any sleepiness forgotten. Like them? Possibly another person interested in the Paranormal? He wouldn’t miss this chance to meet someone else like him for anything. He grabbed Mabel’s shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

“Take me with you.”

* * *

Danny didn’t necessarily have a plan for what he doing that day, but whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t what ended up happening.

Immediately after leaving his motel room he had been assaulted by a cloud of glitter, containing one excitable teenager and her less glittery twin brother. Mabel immediately began to talk, but whatever she was saying was completely lost to Danny, he was sure she was talking faster than humanly possible. Her brother -- he thought he might have been introduced as Dipper, but who knows with Mabel -- only gave him a sympathetic look before grabbing onto the girl’s wrist and pulling her out of her ramblings with a pointed look. 

“Oh, sorry about that,” she grinned sheepishly, “I talk fast when I’m excited.” Danny internally rolled his eyes at the obvious statement.

“You’re good. So, uh, mind repeating that, but at an understandable pace?” Danny waved his hand and grinned easily, making it clear he was joking. Mabel beamed in relief.

“Righty-o! First thing’s first, this here,” she shook the arm Dipper was still holding on to, “this here is my twin brother, Dipper Pines! He’s super into paranormal stuff and junk, and is a total  _ nerd _ .”

Dipper nodded wisely, “Yup. I even have a nerd certificate, granted by the one and only Master of All Things Bright and Sparkly.” He elbowed his sister in the ribs, and she retaliated by poking his side. It reminded Danny of his sister. He grinned, seeing such a good sibling relationship always made him smile.

“Nice to meet you, Dipper, the name’s Danny Fenton,” he held out his hand and Dipper took it, after a moment’s hesitation and a brief flash of uncertainty. Odd. Normally, people weren’t so scared of handshakes, but it’s not like Danny was one to judge for seemingly irrational fears. The first time he saw a red jewel after the whole Circus Gothica incident, he almost had a panic attack.

“Hey, don’t leave us hanging! You gotta tell us more about yourself before we can become friends and I can give you the tour!” Mabel said, somehow pouting and smiling at the same time.

“Friends, huh?” The girl’s friendliness was irresistible, “Well alright. I’m a big fan of space, and could probably qualify for one of those nerd certificates, if  _ my _ friends have anything to say about it.” He could practically hear Tucker and Sam tease him about how much he knows about anything to do with space.

Mabel nodded approvingly, then grabbed his wrist and began to pull him away from the motel. 

* * *

After that, it was a blur of excited talking and rushed introductions as Mabel dragged him around the town, with Dipper following behind. He knew he should probably listen to the teen, but he couldn’t help but stare at everything going on around him instead. He was certain they just jogged by a centaur, and was that… a group of gnomes stealing a pie? Not to mention the strange goblin man, but he got the feeling that was just a really weird-looking human. It was a near-constant barrage of new information, and Danny was starting to get overwhelmed.

Fortunately, at least one of the twins noticed this. Before he realized it, they had stopped and were staring at him with identical concerned gazes. He blinked.

“... What?”

The twins glanced at each other briefly before looking back at him.

“Dude, are you okay?” Dipper asked, “You look kinda…”

“Lost? Confused? Stressed?” Mabel interrupted.

“Uh, yeah, sorry.” Danny didn’t expect these two near-strangers to be so concerned for him, and he felt a little bad about it. They were doing all this stuff out of the kindness of their hearts and he goes and makes them concerned.

“I’m just… not used to all this.” he said as he gestured around him vaguely.

“All ‘this’?”

Danny frowned, not sure how to explain. Glancing around the area, he caught sight of a -- Minotaur? A very manly Minotaur.

“This.” he stated with finality, pointing at the Manly Minotaur. (Manotaur? He vaguely recalled the Lizardperson receptionist mention a Manotaur, so maybe that was it.)

Dipper and Mabel exchanged looks, a look he could tell meant  _ ‘Did we assume wrong?’ _ . He may have been called clueless when he was fourteen, but he had gotten a lot better as he grew up. Being a superhero really does wonders to your people skills.

“Oh, haha, the supernatural creatures?” Dipper asked, laughing nervously.

“Yeah, those are just… costumes? Yeah, there’s a…” he trailed off, obviously trying to make up some kind of excuse. 

“There’s a supernatural convention going on today! Lots of costumes and role-playing and whatever else nerds do at conventions!” Mabel said, saving a very relieved Dipper.

Danny shook his head, holding up his arms in a peaceful gesture.

“No, no, no, guys, you get me wrong. I know they’re real.” he said, placatingly. Dipper tilted his head, confused.

“Then why…”

“I’m not used to  _ this _ ,” Danny stressed, “Where I’m from, there’s ghosts everywhere, but that’s  _ it _ . There’s no other supernatural creatures.”  _ Unless you count the ghosts of supernatural creatures? _ He added, internally. He shook the thought away. Another thought to think about  _ later. _

“Ghosts?” Mabel asked. Her brother’s eyes widened in realization. Danny could practically see the dots connect in the teen’s mind. He braced himself for the inevitable questions.

“Woah, wait, do you mean you’re from Amity Park?”

Danny sighed.

“Yeah. Amity Park, ghost capital of the world, most haunted place in America, home of Danny Phantom, the whole shebang.” Technically, it was ‘ _ Ghost boy _ superhero Danny Phantom’, but he omitted the Ghost Boy part due to the fact he thought he had outgrown it by now. He was no longer a boy. He was a very manly Young Adult. In fact, halfway through high school he grew five inches in one year, and was six and a half feet tall by the time he graduated. It was super unfair that they still called him a ghost boy. He even started to grow some stubble (granted, not enough for anything more than a wispy beard, but it was still  _ stubble _ ), and Boys don’t have  _ stubble _ .

“Wait, Amity Park? That weird town Dipper’s been kinda obsessed with lately?” Mabel asked, knocking Danny out of his mild internal masculinity crisis.

“Hey, I’m not  _ obsessed! _ I’ve just been keeping track of the news and all that. You know, normal, non-obsessed behaviors.” Dipper said, frowning playfully at his sister’s words. It was obvious she was only teasing her brother, even though she may or may not have been right.

Danny was about to change the topic and suggest they continue the tour when they were interrupted as an old truck pulled up next to the three. 

A window rolled down to reveal the driver, and Danny wasn't sure if he was just an odd looking human or some kind of giant rodent posing as a human. The twins recognized him, at least. 

“Hey doods! It's me, Soos. Which you already know. But that other dude looks new so he probably doesn't. So, yeah.” the man announced. Dipper and Mabel grinned and started to chat with gohperman (Soos. He called himself Soos) and Danny decided to tune them out. Let them have their privacy and all that, since they obviously recognized this guy and had started talking about things Danny didn’t understand in the slightest. 

Across the street, he watched the gnomes awkwardly handle the pie tin as they ran from a woman in an apron shooing them away with a broom. They were quick, out of sight in only a matter of seconds, despite the large pie, and the woman stopped with a disappointed sigh, returning to a log-shaped diner.

He let his eyes wander around and take in the rest of his surroundings, which included but was not limited to a curiously shaped window in the attic of one home, what appeared to be days-old confetti scattered across the street (likely having something to do with Mabel, based on what little he knew about the town and its citizens) and several different humans and creatures going about their daily business. It took him a while to notice that the twins and Soos had stopped talking, and were looking at him expectantly. Shoot

“Uh… Hi?” he said awkwardly, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. At the confused looks he quickly began to explain. “I may have, um. Zoned out a bit.”

He grinned, realizing how perfect of a setup it was. 

“Heh, I can be a bit of a  _ space-case _ sometimes.” 

That got a reaction out of them, thankfully. Surprisingly, both Dipper and Mabel laughed at his pun, while Soos stared in confusion, lacking the context. 

“Dood, I can like, totally tell that was a pun but I didn’t get it at all.” 

With an apologetic grin, Danny shrugged.

“It’s fine man, I was referencing something from earlier.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, thank you so much for sticking with me. I've been stuck with this fic, but I really want to finish it. and i Will. One Day. Eventually.
> 
>  
> 
> (I will add, I unashamedly love puns. so much.)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feel free to mention any ideas you want to see in this crossover and I might add them! in fact, I'd love it if you did even if I don't end up using said ideas!  
> and don't be shy, I don't bite! if you find this literal years after I last updated and you want to comment but feel awkward about doing so because it's been so long, comment anyways! seriously, future-me won't mind a single bit. Future me might be surprised you found this, but definitely a pleasant kind of surprised. 
> 
> Love y'all <3


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